Alpha to Omega
by tigpop
Summary: A series of one shots, each ending with the next letter of the alphabet. Kinda hard to explain, sorry. Harry/Nikki. Moving in a timeline through their lives :D
1. Chapter 1

**Just an idea that wouldn't leave me alone :)**

**Each chapter will be the next letter of the alphabet, and the last word will end in the letter in the chapter title... if that makes sense :)**

**Hopefully this will work, but let me know it it doesn't :D**

**xXx**

* * *

><p><span>A is for…<span>

"We are going to be late. Again!"

"No we're not."

"Yes. We are. We have seven, no, six minutes to get through London's morning traffic, and you Nikki Alexander, are still putting on your make up!"

"Harry," Nikki laughed as she finally left the bedroom, her hair tied up in a messy bun, and her coat hanging loosely over her arm. "Since when have you ever worried about being late to work?"

"Oh I don't know," Harry muttered as Nikki made her way over to where he was leaning against the front door. "Maybe since Leo said that I was a bad influence on you. He just wouldn't believe that it was _you _that made us late every morning."

"That's because it isn't me," Nikki said, raising her eyebrows. "I seem to remember that it is _you _Dr Cunningham, that has to be literally dragged out of bed every morning. The snooze button isn't there just to remind you how long ago you should have been up."

"It's only an extra seven minutes," Harry smirked.

"Not once you've pressed it five times it's not," Nikki laughed, punching him playfully in the arm.

Harry caught her outstretched fist before she had the chance to lower it again and pulled her in towards him until her head was against his chest, and their bodies were flush.

"Well, can you blame me?" he whispered in her ear. "I'd much rather be snuggled up under the blankets with you than at work."

Harry grinned at the content sigh he heard escape from Nikki, and leant his chin on the top of her head.

"Anyway," he continued. "I was ready on time this morning. It is you that is going to," Harry glanced at his watch without letting go of Nikki. "Scratch that. It is you that has made us late today."

Nikki giggled, pulling away from Harry and casually walking towards the kitchen to unplug her mobile from the charger. Harry somehow felt incomplete once she'd moved away, as if they were two parts of a puzzle that fitted together perfectly.

A puzzle that had taken them years to work out the solution.

"You were only on time today because you skipped breakfast," Nikki pointed out, turning to face him from the corner of the kitchen. "I can tell by the severe lack of toast crumbs that you usually leave for me to clean up."

"Well noticed Sherlock. But in the time it's taken for you to get ready this morning, I could have eaten the whole loaf of bread. Now come on, before we become ridiculously late. If I have to look at Leo's smug grin again after I told him yesterday that we would definitely be on time…"

"You really do get unsociable without breakfast," Nikki grinned, as if she hadn't heard him speak. "Let's stop at the café on the way there. I'll treat you to a full English breakfast, then maybe you won't be so grumpy."

"I am _not _grumpy. I just don't like giving Leo the satisfaction of being right," Harry sighed. "I would _love _to stop off at the café Niks, but as I've been pointing out for the last ten minutes. We. Are. Late. And I am the one who will be blamed for it. Why do you put that stuff on anyway, you're beautiful without it."

"Charmer," Nikki giggled, walking back to Harry and reaching up on her tip toes to place a small kiss to his lips before stepping back and scrunching up her nose as if she was thinking about something.

"What?" Harry asked as a small smile spread across her lips, instantly reflected on Harry's own features.

"Did I mention that Leo has given us both the morning off?" she asked innocently, yet not managing to hide the grin that was now growing. "After we worked all those unsociable hours on the Bell case."

Harry raised his eyes, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms.

"No. You didn't," he sighed, grinning at the playful look on Nikki's face. "If you _had_ told me, then I would still be in bed!"

Nikki giggled again, before slipping her arms through her coat and grabbing her bag from the front door.

"That must be the reason I didn't tell you," she smiled, picking up the car keys in own hand, and taking Harry's hand in her other. "Now let's go get breakfast."

* * *

><p>Nikki sat in the warm café opposite Harry, at the little two seater table in the corner, watching him as he carefully cut the sausages that were on his plate.<p>

"What?" he asked her eventually, looking up from his breakfast as he realised she was watching him.

"Nothing," she smiled. "We're not at work yet though. You can eat that without dissecting it."

He smirked before rolling his eyes and turning his attention back to the food.

Nikki couldn't help the warm feelings that seemed to radiate through her as she watched Harry. She had watched Harry for years as he performed the simple day to day tasks of life, and yet now everything was that little bit different. Now she could lean over the table and give him a kiss without it being completely unexpected. She could playfully twist her feet between his under the table without receiving a strange look. And she could watch woman practically throw themselves at Harry as he turned his back on them, slipping his arm round her waist instead and pulling her in close.

How so much had changed on that rainy day…

It had been a day just like any other.

As much as Nikki hated that phrase, it really had been. There was nothing out of the ordinary, no suspicious deaths, and no court cases or hearings to attend.

All in all, it had been a rather slow and tedious day, not helped by the fact that Harry felt it necessary to annoy her at every possible opportunity due to his lack of reports to write. Or his lack of motivation to actually write the many reports that were probably waiting for him.

Nikki had taken the opportunity to catch up on her emails it was that quiet, and although the uncharacteristically quiet offices seemed rather soothing, it hadn't lasted long.

"Nikki."

"What?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter."

Nikki sighed, turning her attention back to her computer screen and opening an email from the coroner's office that she had missed from last week.

"Nikki?"

"What Harry?"

Nikki spun round in her chair to face Harry, who had his feet on the table and was leaning back on his chair. He didn't say anything, just grinned at her animatedly.

"What do you want Harry?"

"A hot shower," he answered, and Nikki frowned.

"Good for you."

"What about you?" he asked casually.

"What about me?" she responded, unable to mask her confusion.

"What do you want?" he asked as if it had been a stupid question.

"I want to get through the emails that have slowly built up over the last two weeks," she replied.

"I want a Ferrari. A yellow one with black stripes up the bonnet," Harry smirked.

"I want a cup of coffee," Nikki smiled in return.

"Make it yourself," Harry grinned. "I want to run through London naked in the rain."

Nikki couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the thought as she spun her chair round properly to face Harry.

"I want you to run through London naked in the rain," Nikki giggled. "And I want to be the one to bail you out of jail after you get caught."

"I want to stay up all night watching crappy films and eating too much chocolate like when I was a kid," Harry smiled.

"I want to turn up at your door with a bag of popcorn and watch them with you, like I never did as a child," Nikki said, watching as Harry raised his eyes.

"You never stayed up all night with a group of friends and made yourself sick?" he asked, laughing slightly.

"Nope, never," Nikki shook her head.

"Well then, I want to make you feel sick after eating a stupid amount of sugar," Harry said, crossing his feet over on the desk.

"I want to be at your place instead of mine when I need to run to the bathroom to throw up then," Nikki laughed.

"I want to take you to a theme park and listen to you scream like a girl on the roller coasters."

"I want to go into the house of mirrors and watch your head grow even bigger than it already is."

"I want to sit on the beach and eat ice cream all day."

"I want to take you to South Africa for a holiday, and not have to worry about being arrested. Unless you decide to run around naked there too."

Harry laughed.

"I want to play Pictionary with you so you can laugh at my appalling art skills."

"I want to watch the clouds drift past the window and find shapes in them with you."

"I want to go skiing and watch you fall over."

"I want to bake a cake with you and not burn the house down."

"I want you."

They froze, the silence intensifying, the only noise the hum of the computer.

"I want you Nikki," Harry repeated, kicking his feet from the table and leaning his head in his hands.

Nikki stared at him, no idea how to respond.

"I want to introduce you to my mum as my girlfriend," Harry continued, raising his head to look Nikki in the eyes. "I want to cuddle up with you every night and watch rubbish on TV. I want to go to sleep with you in my arms, and wake up with you still there. I want to kiss you in public and hold your hand as we walk through town. I want to sign things 'from Harry and Nikki' and I want to make two cups of coffee every morning when I wake up, not just one. I want to laugh at every detective that flirts with you, knowing that you are mine. I want to watch you get drunk after a hard day at work and know that I can be the one to carry you home, and stay the night. I want to grow old with you, and I want Leo to stop looking at me with that smug, knowing look. I want you and me to be us."

Harry stopped, and for what felt like forever they stared into each others eyes, both completely lost for words.

Eventually, Harry suddenly stood up, running his hands through his hair and grabbing his coat from the back of his chair.

"I'm sorry," he stuttered, making his way to the door. "I don't know why I said that. Please Nikki, just forget about it, ok? I was being stupid. I don't know why you would want to hear-"

"Harry," Nikki interrupted, just as he put his hand against the glass door to leave the office.

Standing up, Nikki slowly walked towards him.

"Did you mean it? Everything you just said?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah. Everything. Well, apart from the Ferrari. I'd rather have an Aston Martin," Harry sighed, leaning his head against the door.

Nikki laughed nervously.

"So you do want to run naked through the rain," she giggled. "And hold my hand. And make me coffee."

"To be fair, I already do the last two already," Harry said.

"True," Nikki nodded. "Do you know what I want Harry?"

Harry stood up straighter at her words.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I was just bored, and it got out of hand, and I don't want this to ruin our friendship. Please, just-"

"I want you to shut up Harry," Nikki said quietly, placing her finger to his lips. "And then I want you to kiss me."

That was seven months, three weeks and four days ago.

Not that Nikki was counting.

That miserable rainy day that had changed everything, with just one question. One simple, innocent question that had somehow managed to unlock every barrier that they had put up over the years to keep their feelings in.

And things had only seemed to have gotten better from one day to the next. They had slowly but surely settled into a new way of life, sharing things with each other that they never had before. At first it had worried Nikki. How quickly she had settled into being seen as a 'couple.' How she was able to kiss him whenever she wanted and know that there would be no awkwardness. And how truly happy she was with her life. Actually, the more she thought about it, she had been terrified that it was too good to be true. The first month at least she was convinced that he was going to come to his senses and leave her, telling her that he preferred it when they were just friends.

Then, five weeks after the kiss in the office, on one of the nights that Nikki had picked up a take-away and arrived at Harry's door, he had changed everything again. She could remember it now, as if it had only happened yesterday, and found herself smiling in the middle of the café as Harry continued to eat his breakfast.

…

Harry stood so close to her that their arms brushed together as he took her hand in his. Instantly Nikki could feel the smooth, cold metal between their palms and looked up to meet Harry's eyes, who smiled at her widely.

Letting go she held out her hand, a single key with a small pink ribbon lying on her skin.

"What-" Nikki began but Harry put a finger to her lips and she instantly fell quiet.

"Just for once in your life Nikki, be quiet, ok?" he chuckled and Nikki but her lip.

"And in answer to your stupid question, it's a key. I know you've already got one, but this one is official," he stopped, as if lost for words and yet Nikki remained quiet. She could feel her heart racing and silently prayed that she wasn't smiling too much.

"This is what I want. What I've wanted for so long now that I thought it would never happen. Just you and me. And now, I just want to make it even better, I just hope it's what you want too," Harry said quickly.

"Nikki Alexander," Harry continued in a rather formal manner. "Will you move in with me?"

Nikki stared at the key in her still outstretched palm. This was it. No going back. It was another stupidly simple question that could alter her life forever. Grinning widely, she threw her arms around Harry's neck, standing on her toes to reach his lips before whispering in his ear.

"I thought you'd never ask."

…

And that's how it had happened. That's how she had managed to find herself in the small café opposite Harry, who was putting down his fork before taking her hand in his.

It was just one question. That's all it had taken.

"What do you want?" she whispered quietly, more to herself than to Harry.

Nikki grinned as Harry leant over the table and placed a small kiss on her lips.

And there was their **answer**.


	2. B is for

**Sorry for the delay! Been mad busy lately! Yellow Scrubs should hopefully be updated soon, but wanted to do this one as I had most of it written up already :)**

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I really didn't know if this would work.**

**Every chapter will be set after the one before, but won't necessarily follow on, if that makes sense :P So this one happens after the 'A' one, but would be a couple of weeks later. Sometimes the date will be hinted at, sometimes it's just generally after the last one :)**

**Hope this one is ok :) Can you guess what B is for?**

**xXx**

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><p><span>B is for…<span>

"You're early," Leo frowned as Harry passed the entrance to his office, his fingers intertwined with Nikki's. Noticing his boss leaning against the door frame, Harry stopped, sitting on the edge of the desk to face Leo as Nikki let go and made her way to the kitchen.

Glancing at his watch animatedly, Harry nodded, scrunching his nose up slightly.

"So I am," he smirked.

"Harry, you're never early," Leo said with a small laugh. "I actually don't think you have _ever_ been early since the first day we've worked together."

Harry seemed to think for a moment before grinning.

"As much as I'd love to argue with you, I think you're probably right," Harry nodded. "Ah well, there's a first for everything, isn't there?"

"Hmm, and a last," Leo smiled. "But knowing you, the first and last day that you are ever going to be early has just happened at the same moment."

"Yeah probably," Harry said as he pushed himself away from the desk to hang his coat up.

"Any reason you're early today?" Leo asked, almost expectantly. "A special occasion perhaps?"

Harry frowned as he made his way towards his desk again.

"No," he laughed. "We're only early because Nikki set her alarm for stupid o'clock this morning and insisted that I got up too. Reluctantly might I add?"

"I wanted to change the bed sheets," Nikki called from the kitchen. "I was fed up with the blue ones."

"And you had to set your alarm early to do that did you?" Harry shouted back.

"Yup," Nikki replied simply and Leo laughed.

"It's not funny Leo. I need my sleep," Harry moaned. "Half five in the bloody morning to change the bed sheets! And she wouldn't even let me go back to sleep on the sofa. I had to clean the kitchen."

Nikki appeared behind Harry and leant over his shoulder, placing a small kiss on his cheek before scruffing up his hair.

"We all know how much you need your beauty sleep Harry," she smiled brightly. "You only had to clean the kitchen because you tried to cook curry last night and the evidence was plastered over the entire room. And yes, I did need to clean the bed sheets at that time because I wanted to hang them up to dry before we went to work."

Harry made a disgruntled noise as Nikki shrugged off her coat and dropped it on the edge of his desk.

"I've got a PM to do," she said, almost skipping towards the changing room. "See you later."

Harry held up his hand without turning round, as if waving to her before taking her coat from his desk and making his way to hang it up, muttering under his breath as he did so.

Leo smiled to himself as he watched Harry before making his way back to his own desk. He hadn't quite got used to it yet, seeing Harry and Nikki together at last. If he was honest, not much had changed since they had finally listened to their feelings and admitted that there was more between them than just friendship. They still acted the same around each other, with Harry annoying Nikki at every possible opportunity, and Nikki ignoring Harry's attempts at humour. Not that he blamed her. Leo had watched them for years, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened and they ended up together. But their stubbornness was unbelievable sometimes.

He had heard Nikki voice her feelings when they thought they had lost Harry in Hungary. He had watched her collapse into his arms when they found him again, and he had seen Harry grasping her so tightly that he thought he'd never let her go. But even that hadn't been enough to push them together. There were too many wounds caused that day, and they were ones that would take a long time to heal enough to move on.

Luckily for all of them, they did have the time. They had had the time to slowly but surely rebuild their lives, until everything was almost back to normal. So when Leo had gone to work one morning nearly seven months ago to find a particularly agitated Harry and a flustered Nikki, he knew something had changed.

"Leo," Harry had said to him slowly, entering his office and taking a deep breath. "There's something I need to tell you, and please, _please_, don't say 'I told you so' because I know you'll be smug enough as it is."

Leo had only nodded at Harry, completely perplexed at his words, motioning for him to continue.

"Well," Harry breathed heavily again before looking at the entrance to the office where Nikki had peered around the doorframe.

He held out his hand in her direction, and she slowly entered the office, taking Harry's hand, who pulled her in towards him and wrapped his arm around her waist instead.

"Oh," Leo smiled, unable to hide the grin that had spread across his face.

"Is that it?" Harry laughed nervously. "I've been worrying all night and all you have to say is 'oh'?"

"Why were you worrying?" Leo asked. "Since when has my opinion on who you go out with ever affected you?"

Harry shrugged, looking down at Nikki.

"Because I've never told you that I was going out with my best friend before," Harry said, raising his eyebrows. "I just didn't know if you'd approve of- well- this."

Harry motioned to the arm that was wrapped protectively around Nikki, and Leo laughed again.

"Approve?" he said, grinning widely. "Why would I even _disapprove_? I've known for years that you two were meant-"

"Leo, that's an 'I told you so'," Harry warned, but Leo couldn't help but continue to grin as he stood up and wrapped his arms around Nikki, giving her a small wink, and smacking Harry on the arm playfully.

"I really am happy, for both of you," he smiled, noticing a look on Nikki's face that he had never seen before. "Now back to work, we have a lot of work to do."

Leo had known from that first day that they were going to stay together. They had had their arguments just like they always had, and yet by the end of the day they had made up again as usual.

Leo smiled again at the thought of Harry and Nikki together. When they were at work they always remained professional, and to those who didn't know them personally it would be hard to notice the differences in their behaviour. Everyone that saw them together, even before they were '_together'_ could see that there was something between the two of them, and yet when at work nothing seemed to have changed. The flirtation continued, as did the arguing, but it never interfered with their work.

Checking his mobile for any messages, Leo frowned and replaced it back on his desk before checking his emails. Nothing.

Leo sighed. He was sure that Janet would have text him by now. He had left before she was awake again this morning like he normally did, quickly scanning the front room before making his way to work.

No messages. No emails. Just another normal, slow day.

The rest of the day seemed to drag for Leo as he repeatedly checked his mobile. But Janet hadn't text. Harry and Nikki had barely entered his office. No new cases, no messages, no nothing…

It had just gone five when Harry knocked on his office door, entering before Leo had even looked away from the computer screen.

"Leo, I almost forgot," Harry said brightly, and Leo felt himself grin instantly. "Could Nikki and I go early today? We're quiet, and I'm on call tonight."

"Yeah," Leo nodded slowly, slightly disappointed. "Do you two want to go to the pub tonight?"

"Nah," Harry sighed. "Sorry, not tonight. After Nikki getting me up so early this morning I just fancy an early night to be honest. And I just know that I'll sleep so much better now that she's changed the bloomin' sheets."

Leo laughed slightly. At least Harry and Nikki were happy, and that's what really mattered, wasn't it? He was just being selfish, wanting them to go out tonight.

"You can go now if you want," Leo said. "Like you said, it's quiet."

"Really?" Harry narrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you in such a good mood? Actually, I don't care, I'm just going to go before you change your mind."

"See you tomorrow," Leo sighed as Harry left the office, leaving him alone again.

Leo held out his hands in front of him, studying the lines that criss-crossed his knuckles. Clenching them in to fists he leant his head against them.

"When did you get so old Leo," he muttered to himself.

He loved Harry and Nikki like they were part of his family, and he would have loved to spend the rest of the day with them. But they had each other now. They didn't need him any more. He was the one that they used to use to hide their emotions, knowing that he was always there to diffuse the tension if it ever got too much. But now… he wasn't needed.

The more he thought about it however, the more the thought of spending the night in front of an old film with Janet seemed the perfect night. He would put up with any of Janet's soppy films just to have her snuggled up on the sofa with him, the tears streaming down her cheeks at the 'happy ending' that you would only ever see in a make believe story.

Deciding that it was time to go, Leo packed up his notes and left the Lyell with one last check of his mobile, before making his way home.

* * *

><p>"Good evening," Janet smiled when Leo walked through the front door, placing a small kiss on his cheek and handing him a glass of white wine as she entered their front room. "How's your day been?"<p>

"Quiet," Leo said honestly. "Which I suppose is a good thing."

"I suppose it is," Janet smiled, sitting next to Leo on the sofa.

"Any post today?" Leo asked casually but Janet shook her head, her glass of wine still at her lips.

"Were you expecting something?" she asked.

"Not really," Leo mumbled.

There was a clatter from the kitchen, breaking the comfortable silence in the front room.

"Did you hear that?" Leo asked, sitting forward.

"No," Janet frowned, pulling him back and leaning her head on his shoulder. "I was thinking, maybe we should go on holiday this year. If you could get the time off?"

"Yeah maybe," Leo said, still distracted.

"What's up?" Janet frowned, but Leo shook his head, smiling at her.

"Nothing. Just hearing things," he said, yet he was sure that he could still hear something from the kitchen.

"We don't need to anything big or special," Janet continued. "Just a trip to the Lake District or something."

Leo nodded, just as there was another clatter from the kitchen, followed by the unmistakable sound of laughter.

Leo stood up quickly and Janet followed, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Leo-" Janet started as the door to the kitchen opened and Harry appeared, coughing slightly, his hair dusted with flour as he waved his hands in front of him.

"Harry?" Leo said startled and Harry stopped, holding up a finger in his direction.

"Wait there a moment," he said quickly before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Janet, what on earth is going on?" he asked, turning to face his girlfriend who took his hand, wearing the biggest smile he had seen in a long time.

Just as she was about to say something the door opened again and Harry reappeared, holding the door open behind him.

"Leo," he said slowly. "What a surprise to see you here."

"Likewise," Leo laughed. "Funnily enough, I actually live here."

Harry smiled before sticking his head back in the kitchen.

"Hurry up," he muttered, turning back to Leo and grinning animatedly.

"What's going on?" Leo asked again as Nikki appeared in the doorway, holding a large plate that seemed to be alight.

"Now Leo, we were going to put on the right amount of candles, but the shop didn't have enough and we didn't want to have to call the fire brigade out after we set the house alight," Harry said seriously.

"Cheeky bugger," Leo smirked, but he couldn't hide the grin on his lips.

"Please blow them out Leo, this is really heavy," Nikki smiled, holding out a large cake in Leo's direction. "Don't forget to make a wish."

Leo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and blowing out the candles, feeling the heat near his cheeks.

Standing back he took in their appearance properly for the first time. Harry's shirt was covered in flour and what looked like chocolate, whereas Nikki's nose was streaked with cake mix, her hair also covered in flour.

"Oh no," Leo smiled. "You _made _this?"

"Yeah," Nikki said slowly as she studied the cake. "I think it's edible though. Harry put on the chocolate spread stuff that's on top but I don't think he licked his fingers too much."

"It looks like you're wearing more than went in the oven," Janet smiled.

"You should see the kitchen," Harry grinned, as Janet gave them a disapproving look, like a mother telling off her children.

"Don't worry," Nikki smiled. "Harry will clean it up. He's already had practice this morning cleaning ours, I'm sure he won't mind cleaning another one."

"It was you that dropped the bag of flour," Harry protested.

"Yeah but it was you that picked up the box of eggs upside down!"

"You didn't close the box properly."

"Janet, we owe you some eggs," Harry smirked. "We did bring some but… well…"

"They're all over the floor?" Janet finished.

"Yes," Harry said simply. "Who's for cake?"

There was a pause, then they all began to laugh.

"Our cooking skills aren't _that_ bad," Harry said, taking the cake from Nikki as her arms began to shake slightly.

"Were you surprised to see us?" Nikki asked.

"Just a bit! I thought everyone had forgotten," Leo stated.

"We'd never forget about you Leo," Nikki said, holding her arms out for a hug that Leo gratefully accepted.

"What did you wish for?" Harry asked as he placed the cake on the table.

"That you would clean up the kitchen," he smirked and Harry shrugged.

"Fair enough," he said, taking Nikki's hand and pulling her onto the sofa beside him. "Cake first, clean up later."

Janet giggled slightly as she reached up and placed a small kiss on Leo's cheek.

"You're present is in the bedroom, I'll give it to you later," she smiled.

"Now now, you lovebirds," Harry smiled before kissing the top of Nikki's head. "I have a car full of alcohol, which I think if we drink enough of, the cake might just taste edible. Actually I think you're present's in there too. We'll be back in a minute."

Harry took Nikki's hand again, pulling her in the direction of the door as she squealed at him that she had left her shoes in the kitchen.

Janet wrapped her arms around Leo tightly, giving him another kiss.

"I'd never forget, but those two had been planning this for days," she whispered. "I love you Leo. Happy **Birthday**."


	3. C is for

**Sorry, this one is shorter, but I didn't want to make it too long, becasue there's not much happening in it really :)**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed :)  
>lilypad1, pinkswallowsun, Starr123, Ann1119, dinabar, EmmaJ1996, Lizziginne, Thyqua, and the review from someone who didn't leave a name :D<br>(And thank you to whoever also reviewed the first chapter, including Immortal Spud Thief, carlastephanie and heleni0 - sorry I didn't thank you all in the last chapter)**

**Hope this one is ok :) Maybe a little easier to guess...?**

**xXx**

* * *

><p><span>C is for…<span>

"Can we get a dog?" Harry asked Nikki casually one morning as he lay on his back, Nikki's head resting on his bare chest and the bed sheets falling loosely over her side of the bed.

"No," she mumbled without moving or opening her eyes.

"Just a little one," Harry added, and he could feel Nikki smile against his skin.

"Nope," she said sleepily, her warm breath tickling the hair on his chest.

They fell back into a comfortable silence, each enjoying the presence of the other and the fact that it was their first day off together in weeks.

"I'd walk it every day," Harry broke the silence again, and he felt Nikki's eyes flutter open.

"No you wouldn't."

"I would. And I'd feed it."

"You forgot to feed the goldfish for a week."

"So did you."

"Not the point."

There was silence again. Harry tilted his head slightly so he could make out Nikki's features. She had her eyes closed again but there was a small smile on her lips. Running his fingers across her cheek he sighed contently at her warmth.

"Come on, how hard can it be?" he asked, and Nikki tilted her own head back to look at him, raising her eyebrows.

"Famous last words Harry."

"I'm being serious."

"You would need to feed it. Walk it. House train it. You would need to put up with it leaving hair everywhere and eating everything it can find. Sleeping on your side of the bed. Going to the toilet on the kitchen floor. And you would need to pick up after it Harry," Nikki trailed off.

"I cut up dead bodies for a living, I'm sure I can handle dog poo. You already leave hair everywhere so I probably wouldn't notice the difference. A goldfish can't tell you when it's hungry, so that was not my fault. And I go out for a run every night anyway, so I would walk it," Harry responded, smiling to himself at his comeback.

"So when you're stuck at the office, or we're called away for a conference weekend. Or when you want to go to the pub. Or when we don't leave work until three in the morning. Or, Harry, when you leave your paperwork until the last minute and have to pull an all nighter to finish it, what then? We can't just leave a dog here all day, it's not fair on it," Nikki sighed, replacing her head on his chest as if to indicate that there was nothing else to say on the matter.

Harry thought to himself before exhaling deeply.

"I suppose you're right," he sighed.

"Of course I am. I'm always right," Nikki smiled, before sighing herself.

"I'm sorry Harry. We're just not in enough to look after a dog. It would be selfish of us to get one, and I know you are anything, anything but selfish. But I promise," she pushed herself onto her elbows so that she could look him straight in the eyes. "I promise that when we're old and retired, and work doesn't need to come first. When we can lie in bed all day like this, but every day if we wanted to. Then we'll rescue a dog and have it curl up beside us, and leave hair everywhere. I promise."

Nikki leant over, placing a gentle kiss to Harry's lips.

"So you're planning on putting up with me for that long?"Harry asked, smirking slightly.

"Compared to you, a dog would be easy to live with," she giggled. "But yes Harry Cunningham, I plan to grow old and wrinkly with you, until our hair turns gray and we have to start repeating ourselves."

"Pardon."

"Until we're old and wrinkly and- Harry!"

Harry laughed deeply, curling his arms tightly around Nikki's body.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Harry teased, kissing the top of her head as they once again fell into silence.

Harry was stroking Nikki's hair, watching as her eyes drifted closed when his mobile began to vibrate across the edge of his bedside table.

Groaning loudly, he stretched over, trying not to disturb Nikki as he did so, before rolling his eyes at the name on the screen and answering.

"This better be important Leo, it's our day off," he moaned down the phone.

"You are such a little kid sometimes, you know that don't you?" Leo replied with a chuckle. "And no, it's not important, but it's your own fault that I'm phoning. I can't find your report on the Simpson case and I need to send it off today."

"Oh," Harry said, scrunching up his nose in thought. "You tried my desk?"

"No Harry, I never thought of that. Why didn't I check your report tray, or sift through the papers that scatter your desk? Of course I've checked Harry!"

"Ok, ok. What about Nikki's desk?"

"Checked."

"What bout…" Harry drew out his words. "Oh, I remember. It's under the sink in the kitchen."

"Why is it-? Actually, I don't want to know. Wait a minute," Harry could hear Leo moving around the office. "Yup, it's here. Don't know why I didn't check there myself really."

"Nikki spilt her coffee everywhere, and I stuck it there so it wouldn't get covered when I got the cleaning stuff out, and, oh it doesn't matter, you have it now," Harry babbled on. "Anyway, is that everything?"

"Yeah," Leo said. "I think so. You done much this morning?"

Harry rolled his eyes again. Even on his day off, Leo managed to interfere in some way. But he was only thinking of them, he knew that really.

"Nope. Sleep, disagreement with Nikki, which of course I lost, then more sleep on her half. Very productive day really."

"Lovers tiff?" Leo asked, chuckling slightly.

"No, nothing like that," he smiled. "I just suggested that we could get a dog, but Nikki wasn't really up for the idea. I think she thinks they just drool and smell and all she'd have to do is clean up after them."

"Wait, is this you or the dog?" Leo chuckled, and Nikki giggled from his chest.

"I thought you were asleep!" he protested. "And how exactly did you hear that?"

Nikki shrugged slightly, opening her eyes to look up at him, grinning at the expression on his face.

"I'll speak to you later," Leo laughed. "Bye Nikki," he added slightly louder so she would hear.

"Bye," they said simultaneously, before Harry hung up and threw his phone back onto the table.

Curling his arms around Nikki tightly, he hugged her close to his skin, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo.

"I could lie here like this forever," Harry mumbled, kissing the top of her head again.

"You would get far too hungry to lie here all day," Nikki chuckled. "I know what you're like, you're guided by your stomach."

"Hmm, true," Harry sighed. "I'd like to give it a go though. Starting now."

"If you say so."

"I do."

Nikki reached up, tracing her fingers along the side of his chin and wrapping them slightly around his hair.

"I love you," she whispered, her breath warming his chest again.

"And I love you," Harry answered. "But I'm starting to get hungry already."

"Five more minutes," Nikki smiled. "Then breakfast. Then back to bed."

"Sounds like a plan."

Nikki curled up against his skin and felt his warm breath on the back of her neck as she closed her eyes. Harry was right, she would stay here forever if she could. Because when she was curled up in Harry's arms, nothing could hurt her. When she was with Harry, all her fears, all her troubles, they disappeared, evaporating into nothingness.

"Nikki?"

"Hmmm," she mumbled, already drifting back to sleep, content with the feeling of the rhythmic patterns he was drawing on her bare skin.

"What about a **cat**?"


	4. D is for

**I don't like this one... especially not the ending word, but I couldn't get anything else to fit. I think Lilypad1's suggestions were probably better :)**

**Thank you so much to Lizziginne, pinkswallowsun, Thyqua, heleni0, gem.S, hopelesslyhalfhearted, Ann1119, EmmaJ1996, dinabar and lilypad1 for your reviews :D And well done to anyone who guessed it was Cat...**

**I'll try and make 'E' better :D**

**xXx**

* * *

><p><span>D is for…<span>

The cat was named Arnold.

Much to Harry's annoyance. Even though it was his own fault really.

It had started as a joke to begin with, naming him Arnold. To be honest it was just to annoy Nikki, who was trying to name it 'Ginger' and 'Fluffy' and 'Buttercup' and other stupid girly names, that just did not suit the little scrawny thing in the slightest. But as soon as he had named it Arnold, the cat seemed to respond, and then no matter what, he would answer to nothing else…

It had been about a week after he had the sleepy conversation that Nikki had finally given in and agreed to go to the Cat Sanctuary to have a 'look around'. Well, it wasn't so much that she had agreed to go, and more that Harry had told her they were going out for dinner, before turning off towards the Sanctuary when she wasn't looking. She'd noticed, of course.

Nikki never missed a thing.

The Cat Sanctuary was a small place that was almost hidden between the overgrown hedges and hanging trees, but Harry had managed to spot the powder blue rooftop that he had been looking out for, the ivy creeping up the side of the wall until it reached the chimney.

They had sat in the car park for almost half an hour with Nikki frowning out the front window, her arms crossed over her chest having refused to even take off her seat belt.

"I _told _you Harry," she shot at him for the hundredth time. "We. Are. Not. Getting. A. Cat."

"Please just have a look," Harry whined. "And if you don't want one, then I will happily just go home again. Come on, my mum used to take me to the Cat Sanctuary all the time when I was a kid, but I haven't been in years."

"And you thought that today just happened to be the day that you wanted to visit again?"

"I'm being spontaneous," Harry smirked.

Eventually, Nikki turned to look at him, a playful look in her eyes that Harry knew only he ever got to see.

"Five minutes. You have a look, then we go for dinner like you promised."

"Deal," Harry grinned, jumping out the car and opening her door before she got the chance to change her mind.

"You do know I'm not a cat person, don't you?" Nikki had asked as they made their way up the gravelly path.

"You've told me, yes," Harry smirked. "About… twelve times today I think."

"Shut up."

"You asked."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"I know."

Nikki glared at Harry again as an elderly woman made her way towards them from the front door, her smile wide and genuine, and her wild grey hair sticking up at every angel possible.

"Good afternoon," she smiled. "I'm Brenda. I'm guessing you must be Harry? We spoke earlier on the phone."

"Good afternoon," Harry said, holding out his hand to greet her. "This is my girlfriend, Nikki."

"You said you were being spontaneous," Nikki raised her eyebrows, addressing Harry.

"I was. Kind of. Well, I was being spontaneous this morning when I phoned to arrange a time…" Harry trailed off at the look in Nikki's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Nikki smiled, turning back to Brenda. "I'm sure that cats are lovely little things to some people, but I have been telling Harry for weeks that we are not, under any circumstances, getting any form of pet. And so he has taken it upon himself to try and get one anyway. Sorry, I'm ranting. Harry, can we go now?"

"You said five minutes, so we're staying," Harry said firmly, noticing the amused look that had covered Brenda's features.

Smiling, the elderly woman walked closer to Nikki, placing a warm hand on her arm.

"Why don't I just show you the kittens? They always get re-homed first, so if you decide that you don't want one, you don't need to feel bad about leaving again."

Nikki sighed heavily before nodding.

"Fine," she agreed, pointing a finger in Harry's direction as Brenda made her way to the door. "Five minutes Harry, then I am out of here."

Brenda led them up the aisle of enclosures to the end of the room where the kittens were kept, each one an individual fluff ball that seemed intent on flattening the one nearest to them, their feet almost seeming too big for their body.

Harry hadn't realised he was smiling at them so much until Brenda had laughed, pointing to a small group of them in the corner.

"Those ones there are now ready to be re-homed," she stated. "Just turned old enough to go, so if you decide you want one, all you would have to do is fill in a couple of forms."

"Sounds great," Harry said, turning to smile at Nikki who he had assumed was standing beside him, hoping that she had changed her mind after seeing the kittens play. But she wasn't there.

Turning round, he spotted her further down the room, crouching down with her head leaning against the metal wire that covered the front of the enclosures. She had slid her fingers through the meshed wire, stroking the purring ginger fluff that leant against the side.

"Back in a minute," Harry had mumbled, making his way to where Nikki was crouching, and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Niks, the kittens are this way. Want to have a look?"

"Hmm," Nikki sighed, standing up, but her eyes lingered on the enclosure. "Yeah."

Harry watched Nikki observe the kittens, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. Silently, Brenda opened the door to the enclosure, picking up two wriggling ball's of fluff that had been playfully eating each other's ears, before passing one each to Harry and Nikki.

"You don't need to choose today. If you think that you would like to get a kitten later on, we can always put your name on the waiting list for the next lot that are being weaned at the moment," Brenda stated.

"Thanks," Harry nodded, stroking the kitten on the head as it chewed on his shirt.

Glancing at Nikki, he could see her awkwardly passing the kitten from hand to hand as it tried to get back to the enclosure, it's paws flailing in all directions.

"It's cute," Nikki said quickly, passing the kitten back to Barbara, and giving Harry a small smile.

"Do you want that one?" she asked Harry, who continued to stroke the pure black kitten.

"Do you?"

"I asked first."

Harry passed the kitten back to Barbara, taking Nikki's hand in his and looking her in the eyes.

"Niks, if you don't want a kitten, then just say. You're probably right, we're not in enough for a pet anyway," Harry smiled slightly.

"But you do want one," Nikki sighed. "And it's me that's being selfish now."

"All I want is you Nikki. Maybe in a couple of years we'll be in a different position," Harry tightened his grip on her hand, touching her nose slightly with his index finger. "Now let's go get some dinner."

Harry fell into a casual conversation again with Barbara on their way out, and so did not notice Nikki fall behind them.

"Harry," she said just as he was about to open the door.

Turning around, he could see her crouching in front of the same enclosure as before, her finger's through the metal wire again.

"Oh, I see you've found one of our older residents," Brenda chuckled. "Well, he's not old, he's almost three. But he was abandoned by his owner after he was hit by a car last year. We had to amputate one of his legs, but he's still as playful as ever."

Nikki giggled as the ginger cat licked at her fingers before rubbing his head closer to her hand.

"Has he got a name?" Nikki asked, not looking away from the enclosure.

"Not really," Brenda answered. "He's usually just called Kitty I suppose. Do you want to see him properly?"

"Oh," Nikki said, jumping up suddenly. "I don't know, I-"

But Brenda had already made her way over to the enclosure, opening it and picking up the small cat, placing him in Nikki's arms before she could say another word.

Harry could tell that it was love at first sight, for both Nikki and the cat. As soon as Nikki looked into the eyes of the ginger feline, her eyes seemed to light up, and every part of her softened. The cat pushed his nose under Nikki's chin, rubbing his head along her neck, its soft purr vibrating through its body and a look of pure contentment on his features as he closed his eyes.

Nikki giggled again as the cat put it's only front paw on her cheek, leaning back slightly in her arms as if to get a better look at her.

"Harry, I don't want a kitten," Nikki said quietly. "But I think that a cat might just be ok. And I think that he's chosen us. What do you think?"

Harry walked over, leaning an arm across Nikki's shoulders.

"He looks pretty happy to me," Harry said, rubbing a hand over the cat's head.

"It looks like he's got a new home to me," Brenda smiled, winking slightly at Harry. "And I think if you fill in the forms now, you can take him home with you now."

"Do you want to come home with us?" Nikki said quietly, nuzzling her nose into the soft fur, causing Harry to laugh loudly.

"What?"

"'I'm not a cat person you know,'" Harry repeated, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I can change my mind can't I?"

"That you can," Harry chuckled quietly, following Brenda towards the tiny office, leaving Nikki and the cat together.

And so Arnold the ginger tabby cat had become part of their little make shift family.

The car journey on the way home had been easier than Harry imagined. The cat had simply curled up on Nikki's knee, tucking his nose under his front paw and falling asleep. Nikki sat quietly, stroking the cat's soft fur gently, a small smile on her lips.

"Harry?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

Harry grinned.

"No problem. Like you said, I think he chose us. What are you calling him?"

"I don't know yet. I think I'll need to see what he's like when we get him home. I'm sure his name will just sound right when we hear it."

"What about tripod?"

"Harry!" Nikki exclaimed, covering the cat's ears with her hands. "Don't listen to him baby, he's just being mean."

Harry laughed again.

"An hour ago you weren't a cat person, and now you're calling him 'baby'?"

"We need cat food," Nikki stated, obviously ignoring Harry's comment. "And a bed. And a scratch post, because I don't want him scratching the sofa."

"How's he going to scratch with one front paw?"

"Harry! Stop being so mean," Nikki said, stroking the cat again.

"Nikki," Harry moaned. "Someone's going to think that we're a pair of sadistic pathologists that have been a little bit too over enthusiastic with a scalpel or something!"

"No they won't! Harry he had no one else. He needed us," Nikki said.

"I know," Harry smiled. "And now he has us. Now he has everything he needs."

* * *

><p>Harry smiled to himself as he watched Nikki sleep on the couch, her knees tucked up slightly, and the small ball of fluff curled up protectively in her arms. Its pastel pink nose twitching as it dreamt, it's small ginger paw resting gently on top of Nikki's hand. They had become inseparable from the moment they had laid eyes on each other, even though Nikki would deny it. Harry knew that there was just no way they could have come home without Arnold, not without Nikki silently heartbroken.<p>

It had been a long day at work, with numerous deadlines to meet, not to mention two new cases that had come in before mid day. So by the time they had got home, it had only taken ten minutes before Nikki had fallen asleep, Arnold having ran over to them as soon as they had set foot in the door.

"Nikki?" Harry whispered after an hour, leaning over the back of the couch until his lips were just above her cheek. "Are you awake?"

"Hmmm."

"Do you want a glass of wine?"

"Stupid question."

Stretching slightly, she opened her eyes and smiled at Harry, letting their lips connect.

"What about the rat, does it want some?" Harry said casually.

"Cat, Harry!" Nikki protested, pulling the cat in towards her chest and nuzzling her nose on the top of his head. "Just ignore him Arnold, he's being a stupid arse."

"I was being serious," Harry laughed. "I'm going to give Arnold some white wine. Or maybe red…"

"Very funny."

Harry opened the fridge in the kitchen, and he heard the cat jump lightly off the couch, racing into the kitchen to stand beside him. It seemed to have taken only a few days before the cat had linked the fridge to a source of food, and for something with only three legs, it could move fast.

Taking out a bottle of wine and a bottle of cat milk, Harry filled two glasses, as well as Arnold's bowl.

"Is the chicken in the fridge for Arnold?" Harry called through casually.

"That is for your tea tomorrow. Don't touch."

Harry smirked.

"One little bit for you won't do any harm, will it?" Harry whispered, handing over a slice, watching Arnold stand on his back legs to try and reach, just as Nikki's voice came from the sitting room.

"Harry, don't you **dare**."


	5. E is for

**I haven't forgotten about this, promise! It's just been a little neglected over the past few weeks. ****I've finished X and Z, which doesn't help much when I've got the rest of the alphabet to complete first!**

**Thank you to Lizziginne, Thyqua, EmmaJ1996, pinkswallowsun and dinabar for reviewing the last chapter. Glad you all like Arnold :D**

**With my other fic 'Yellow Scrubs' getting a little darker from now on, this will probably remain fluffy :) I hope :D**

**Can anyone guess what E is? :P**

**xXx**

* * *

><p><span>E is for…<span>

"Any ID on our Jane Doe from yesterday Harry?" Leo asked as he strolled through the office, his mobile at his ear waiting for the call to connect.

"Nope," Harry shook his head, leaning back in his chair, his eyes closed.

Leo stopped behind Harry, raising his eyes at Nikki, who nodded, a wide grin spread across her face. Placing the phone to his shoulder, Leo leant down towards Harry's ear, and smiled.

"Harry!" he shouted, and Harry's eyes flew open, sitting bolt upright at his desk.

"Bloody hell Leo, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Leo laughed, placing the phone back to his ear and walking towards the exit.

"Work Harry," he shouted across the office. "I'm going to the station for an hour, and I expect you to have something for me by the time I get back. Nikki, keep an eye on him will you? Hello…"

Leo left the office, talking rapidly to the officer on the other end of the phone, his smile still in place.

"Is he gone?" Harry asked, leaning across his desk in an attempt to see the door.

"Ah ha," Nikki mumbled, her eyes focused on the file in front of her.

"Good," Harry said, throwing his head back and closing his eyes again.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, until Harry sighed animatedly, slamming his hands onto the table.

"I'm bored."

"Well I have an idea Harry," Nikki said brightly. "How about you do some work?"

"Hmmm, nah," Harry smirked. "It's nearly twelve."

"Well noticed."

"Let's go out for lunch."

"But Leo said-"

"Since when do you listen to Leo?"

Nikki smiled, chewing on the end of her pen.

"Half an hour," she said, raising her eyebrows. "Half an hour, and then work. But no fast food if we're getting an Indian on the way home."

Harry seemed to contemplate this idea before his face split into a wide grin and he stood up from his desk.

"Back in a minute," he announced, disappearing into the kitchen.

Nikki shook her head as she watched him leave, before turning her attention back to her file. She dreaded to think what Harry was getting up to, but she knew that it was best to stay out the way when he was in one of these moods. He was happy, so that's all that mattered. He really was like a child sometimes.

Nikki still couldn't quite come to terms with the fact that she was now 'together' with Harry. She had been dreaming about it for years, not that she would ever tell him that. And even though not much had changed since they became a couple, Harry seemed to find a new way to make her smile every day, even when he didn't realise he was doing it.

Five minutes later, and after many clatters from the kitchen, Harry appeared back in the office with a plastic bag that was stuffed full, and a stupid grin.

"You ready?" he asked, and Nikki couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"I've been ready since you asked me," she giggled. "It's you who's been rummaging around and wasting time. Leo's going to be back before we know it!"

"Well why are you still sitting there, come on," Harry laughed, taking Nikki by the hand and pulling her towards the door at a run. "You won't need your jacket, it's a lovely day."

"Harry, heels," Nikki squealed, her blonde curls flailing around behind her.

"So they are," Harry grinned, stopping briefly to scoop Nikki up in his arms, smiling widely as her giggling grew louder.

* * *

><p>"Where are we going?" Nikki moaned, following Harry through the park towards the small row of shops that lined the street at the other side. They had been walking for about ten minutes, but already Nikki was beginning to get fed up. The hot summer sun had decided to make an appearance, shining brightly through the treetops and casting abstract shadows along the path they were walking along.<p>

"Not much further," Harry stated, glancing around the park, his hand tightly enclosing Nikki's.

"It better not be that horrible fish and chip place on the corner Harry. The last time we were there it was disgusting, and I'm sure my fish was still alive it was that undercooked."

"Stop whinging Niks," Harry said, still glancing around the park.

"I am not whinge-"

"This way," Harry suddenly cut in, pulling Nikki off the path and towards a low hedge at the corner of the park. "I'm sure it's this way."

Nikki giggled again as she ran after Harry, who stopped momentarily at the hedges, flashing her a wide grin, before pulling her through a small opening that was just visible between the leaves.

As soon as they emerged on the other side Nikki froze. They were standing at the edge of a large, spacious field, the grass slightly overgrown yet a vibrant shade of healthy green. One side of the field was bordered by a neat hedgerow, and the other two sides disappeared into the distance, hidden from view by a large hill in the middle.

"Come on," Harry almost whispered, tightening his grip on her hand and pulling her up the hill.

"Where are we?" Nikki asked, her eyes scanning the landscape in search of anywhere recognisable.

"In a field."

"I'd worked that much out myself."

"Then stop asking stupid questions."

Nikki shrugged, following Harry in silence until they reached the top of the hill, where he stopped and turned around to face her.

"No horrible fish and chips. No noisy café. Just me, you, and a few sheep," Harry smiled, guiding her up to the very top.

Nikki froze again, her mouth hanging open slightly as she pivoted on the spot. She had worked at the Lyell Centre for nearly seven years, and had not once found this spot on her many rambling travels. She had even walked through the park a million times, and never knew what small wonderland had been hidden behind the trees. The view was breathtaking, despite the fact that they were in the middle of London on a busy weekday lunch hour. The sound of the traffic seemed to be muffled through the trees, which was just visible as it snaked tits way through the city. She could see for miles, and yet from the park, the entire field was hidden by the trees.

"Can you see the Lyell?" Harry asked, standing closer to Nikki and pointing into the distance. "Just over there, slightly to the left."

Nikki nodded, the smile still on her lips.

"And there's the car park, and the pub," Harry continued. "And I'm sure if you look really closely, you can see the students that are skiving their lectures."

Harry laughed, glancing down at Nikki.

"Hey, what's up, you're being really quiet?" Harry quizzed. "Too quiet actually. Would you rather go to the café instead?"

"No," Nikki said quickly, tilting her head back to catch Harry's eyes. "Here's perfect. Just perfect."

"Good," Harry smiled back. "Let's eat."

Nikki's eyes narrowed again as she studied Harry, and Harry couldn't help but feel amused at the look of confusion on her face.

"Why else did you think I spent so long in the kitchen?" Harry smirked, pulling out a handful of tea towels from the plastic bag in his hand. "I couldn't find a blanket, so these will have to do I'm afraid."

Nikki watched as Harry carefully started laying out the small towels in a patchwork effect, each one overlapping the other slightly until there was a big enough area covered, before he tipped the bag upside down, letting the contents fall to the ground.

"You're presentation skills leave a lot to be desired," Nikki laughed, starting to pick up each item and positioning it around the edge of the make-shift blanket in a neat line, unsure what some of the items were.

"Shut up, it's the thought that counts," Harry said, scrunching up the plastic bag and shoving it in his pocket.

"That it is Harry," Nikki smiled, leaning over to plant a small kiss on Harry's lips, yet he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in closer until Nikki was almost gasping for breath. No matter how many times he did that, it always made her heart skip a beat and her entire body seemed to warm by a few degrees.

"So, what first?" Nikki asked once they were both seated on the 'blanket', scanning the line of items that had fallen from the bag.

"Well, there wasn't much in the fridge really," Harry said, scrunching up his nose. "So I had to use my imagination when I was making the sandwiches."

"Why does that not fill me with a lot if confidence?"

"I can cook better than you, actually."

"You didn't have to _cook _anything!"

"Not the point," Harry smiled, pulling open a tub which contained a selection of sandwiches. "Right, we have a cheese and onion one, and we have some sort of paste thing that I found at the back of the fridge. I think it was still in date, I forgot to check, but there was no furry green stuff on it, so I think it was ok. And there's one filled with the rabbit food that only you ever eat."

"It's salad Harry."

"Exactly. Rabbit food," Harry raised his eyes, catching the smile that lit up Nikki's eyes. "And I think I might have one with marmite in it too, or it might have been peanut butter. I can't remember."

"Oh yeah Harry, because marmite and peanut butter are so similar, aren't they?" Nikki laughed.

"Of course they're not, but I was making them in a hurry, and all I remember is whatever I put in it, I didn't like, so it's either marmite or peanut butter, because I can't stand either."

"There's nothing wrong with peanut butter," Nikki said, searching apprehensively through the tub which Harry was holding in her direction.

"Let's hope it was peanut butter then," he smiled. "Because if it's marmite, I'm feeding it to the sheep."

"Its peanut butter," Nikki stated, pulling out a sandwich from the container and taking a bite. "Poor sheep. Harry, why _are _there sheep in here?"

"The field might, possibly belong to the farmer that lives a few miles in that direction," Harry grinned, pointing down the hill.

"So we're trespassing?"

"No," Harry said quickly. "He knows were here. Kind of. I found this place a few years ago when I went out for a run, I don't know how exactly. And the farmer was out at the time with his dog. We got talking, I explained who I was, and he told me that if I ever wanted to get away from the office, he wouldn't mind me wandering through the field as long as I didn't scare the sheep. I forgot about it until today, I haven't been in months!"

"Oh," Nikki smiled weakly, her eyes studying her sandwich. If Harry had known about this place for years, he must have brought countless girls here to flirt with them. Maybe on a dark summer's night when there was no way of being found, or for a picnic just like this one.

"You're the first person I've ever brought here Niks," Harry smiled as if reading her mind, lifting her chin until he could look her straight in the eyes. "You do know that, don't you? You are the only one, only one special enough to bring here. Somewhere peaceful and beautiful and perfect, just like you. Well, maybe not the peaceful bit, but certainly the other two."

Nikki could feel her eyes begin to water and moved closer to Harry until she was practically sitting on his knee, kissing him again and feeling his stubbly chin on her skin.

"So, what else have you got then?"

"Crisps," he answered, looking along the line of food. "Yes, the blue ones before you ask. I took those two pots from the fridge but I don't know what's in them. There's fruit, and a tin of beans…"

"Beans?" Nikki laughed. "Why?"

"I was in a rush, I told you. I just grabbed it without thinking."

"Is that a carrot too?"

"Yup."

"So basically, you just emptied the fridge into the bag? And one of the cupboards-"

"Yup."

"Brilliant," Nikki smiled. "I really do love you Harry Cunningham."

"Not as much as I love you."

* * *

><p>By the time Harry and Nikki made it back to the Lyell Centre, Leo was sitting in his office, wearing an amused expression.<p>

"Harry," he said loudly when he noticed them. "Nice of you to make a reappearance."

"We've only been out half an hour," Harry said, mocking hurt.

"Yeah, ok. I've been back for an hour, and you were gone before I got back," Leo raised his eyebrows. "What's in the bag?"

"Tea towels."

"Right," Leo nodded. "Glad I asked. So, have you got any new information for me?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, glancing at Nikki. "Sheep don't eat peanut butter. Or paste stuff."

"But they did like the carrot," Nikki added, nodding her head.

"I meant on the case, but thanks for that," Leo laughed. "Does this mean you're going to actually do some work now your back?"

"I'll think about it," Harry smirked, turning his computer screen back on.

Leo met Nikki in the kitchen moments later where she was cleaning out the tubs from the cupboard.

"Good lunch?" he asked casually, catching the smile that Nikki was trying to hide.

"Yeah," she said. "It was alright actually."

"Go anywhere nice?"

"Just a little place near the park."

There was silence again as Nikki waited for the kettle to boil, and Leo opened the fridge to get out the milk.

"Why is there only milk and an egg in the fridge?" he asked amused.

"Hmm, he must have missed the egg. He took everything else."

"So I see," Leo chuckled. "And this was for a picnic? For two?"

"And the sheep," Nikki nodded.

"Right," Leo mused, trying to work out what they had been getting up to on their lunch break, and failing miserably. Glancing round the door to the office, Leo could see Harry with his feet up on the desk, his eyebrows knitted together as he stared at the computer screen, a packet of crisps in his hand.

"But you had a good time," Leo asked, turning back to Nikki.

"The best."

"I really am so happy for you. For the both of you," he smiled, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"I know," she nodded, standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek lightly. "Thanks Leo."

Nikki knew that Leo could quite easily have rung them when they hadn't appeared back at the office, and yet he had left them, despite the fact that they should have been working. To be fair, there was no new information to look at anyway, but that wasn't the point. Leo was their boss after all, and it would look bad on him if they weren't in the office when they should have been.

Leo was definitely a friend first, and a boss second in Nikki's opinion. She would never undermine Leo's decisions, or think twice about the way he ran the office, he was a brilliant boss. But he was an even better friend, and a friend in a completely different way than Harry had been before they were together.

Harry had been her best friend for so long that Nikki had thought that's all they could ever be. She could tell him everything and anything, and know that he would always be there for her, no matter what the situation. He was still her best friend even now. There were just a few more things she could share with him now that they were together, which included an apartment. But not much had changed really.

But Leo was different. He was always there for her too, and it wasn't as if he was any less important in her life. He was like the father she always wished she had, rather than the waste of space she ended up with, and she loved him for that. She just happened to love Harry a little differently, and this had not gone unmissed by Leo. Now that she was officially with Harry, Leo seemed to do everything possible to make sure that they could spend time together, even though to be fair, they had been doing this themselves for years, even if it was subconsciously.

Nikki sat down opposite Harry as Leo disappeared into the office, not before playfully hitting Harry over the head with a file as he went, muttering about his feet being on the table. Which Harry ignored.

"Why aren't you fat?" Nikki asked, watching as Harry opened his third bag of crisps that he had brought back from the picnic.

"I exercise," he answered casually, and Nikki couldn't help but laugh.

"Exercise!" she scoffed. "Since when do you have time to exercise? You used to go every morning, but now you just lie in bed until I drag you out."

"True. That's because I'd rather spend more time snuggled up with you," Harry smiled, stuffing a handful of crisps into his mouth and holding out the packet in her direction. "Wontone."

"Is it worrying that I understood that?" she giggled, shaking her head.

Harry smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"So," she began again. "Why aren't you fat?"

Harry swallowed his mouthful and grinned.

"Because Nikki, I get more than enough exercise running around after you. And that bloody cat of yours."

"Leave Arnold out of this, you love him really."

"I love you more."

"Glad to hear it."

Harry kicked his feet off the desk before leaning over to kiss her again, something which they only seemed to do when no one was looking, as if they still couldn't quite believe they were able to do it without receiving shocked looks by other members of staff.

"So, Indian on the way home?" Harry asked casually, taking out an apple from the bag and biting into the red skin.

Nikki rolled her eyes and grinned.

"Harry, do you _ever _stop **eating**?"


	6. F is for

**I know, I know, I well and truly neglected this! And I'm sorry. Things have been mad busy, and I was concentrating more on my other fic, but I'll try to remember this one more often, cos I know what G and H are definitely going to be :)**

**Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter - heleni0, EmmaJ1996, Starr123, Thyqua, Lizziginne, dinabar, pinkswallowsun and deadfairies (who gave me the kick up the bum to update this, even though it took longer than it should).**

**I'm not entirely happy with this, but I really needed to get something up for it :) The next ones will be happier than this one too... in one of those angstyish moods :p**

**Can you guess what F is?**

**xXx**

* * *

><p><span>F is for…<span>

She was late, yet again.

It wasn't surprising really. Harry had known Nikki for what felt like forever, and she had never, ever been on time for anything that he had planned over the years.

Leaning against the lamppost on the corner of the street, Harry glanced at his watch, the sun gleaming off the glass and making his eyes squint. Twelve minutes late so far…

Harry had managed to sneak out the office half an hour before his lunch break when Leo had gone to the bathroom, not that it had done him any good. He had phoned Nikki as soon as he had left the office and planned to meet her at the corner of the street, and yet so far, Harry had been left propping up the lamppost as he waited for her to finish her shopping. The sound of the traffic and groups of kids that were out spending their parent's hard earned cash mingled in the air around him, the typical sounds of a Saturday afternoon in London that had become so comforting to Harry.

He usually hated days like this. Days where Nikki had the day off, when she was on the night call and Harry had to go to work on his own. He had no one in the office to annoy and laugh at, and no one to warn him when Leo was standing behind him, watching him play his card game on the screen. It was boring at work without Nikki. Beyond boring. And it was days like this that Harry was thankful for whatever reason it was that had caused Nikki to choose the Lyell Centre. To dump her old bones on his desk and refuse to move them.

If Leo never listened to Harry again he wouldn't care, not after he had agreed to give Nikki a job. He was the one who gave him Nikki, and who stuck by them through the years until they had eventually come to their senses.

So today, to split up the long afternoon without Nikki in the office, Harry had reluctantly handed his bank card over to Nikki and told her to go shopping, as long as she met him for lunch at the quaint little café that sat snuggled between two large stores on the corner of the street.

Squinting against the sunlight, Harry shielded his eyes with his hand and could just make out the delicate frame of his girlfriend on the opposite side of the road to where he was standing, her hands tucked in her pockets. Harry laughed to himself. She was always cold, no matter what the weather was like. The sun could be splitting the sky like it was today, and she would still complain that the office was cold.

The fact that he turned the air con on just to annoy her wasn't the point.

Pushing off from the lamppost, Harry straightened up and walked to the edge of the pavement, smiling as Nikki turned in his direction. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and the smile that graced her lips when she spotted him made his heart skip a beat. Every day Harry questioned why Nikki had settled with him, after so long of being just 'best friends.' He really was the luckiest man on the planet…

Nikki lifted her hand and her smile grew larger as she stepped onto the road, ready to skip across towards him and throw her arms around his neck as she normally did. Their eyes locked together, a thousand words travelling between them that no one else would ever understand.

And it's then that the sound of breaks screeching managed to force itself into Harry's consciousness. Managed to snap him out the daydream that he had found himself captured in. And whipping his head to the side, he could see the car coming towards them, towards Nikki, as she seemed to freeze.

It was like déjà vu, the sickening noise of rubber against tarmac filling the once relaxed surroundings. The images of Susan Fenn, the pretty police officer that had caught Harry's eye many years ago, flashed across his mind. He could see her standing on the other side of the street, just like Nikki had been, and he could see her step out on to the road… as he watched her life snatched away in a split second.

The car was going fast, too fast. It should have stopped by now. It was going too fast to break in time. Harry felt his body moving, and yet had no control over his actions.

And then everything was silent.

Harry breathed deeply, his eyes closed tight, and it was then that he noticed that he was no longer standing. The hard ground beneath him was gravelly and rough against the side of his cheek, his arms tensed as they held the shaking form in his arms.

The quiet sobs were the first sound to break the silence. Yet once they did, everything seemed to speed up again, every noise returning. Tightening his grip, Harry opened his eyes and looked down to see the long, blonde curls spread across his chest, Nikki's entire body shaking uncontrollably.

"Nikki?"

Harry stroked her hair, and she slowly tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Harry."

Harry was suddenly aware of footsteps behind him, and a hand on his shoulder, unfamiliar voices surrounding his senses.

"Hey mate, are you ok?"

He blinked, pushing himself into a sitting position and moving Nikki slightly so that she was sitting on his knee, her head still buried in his chest.

"I'm sorry," she trembled, clutching Harry tightly. "I'm sorry."

"Hey," Harry soothed, brushing the hair away from her eyes and ignoring the people around him. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Has someone called for an ambulance?"

"No," Harry said suddenly, turning in the direction of the stranger. "We don't need an ambulance. Honestly, we're both fine. No harm done."

"You sure, you took quite a knock" the guy asked, and a few others nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm completely sure," Harry nodded, accepting a hand from a particularly muscular passer-by, who helped to pull him to his feet whilst still holding onto Nikki, who managed to compose herself enough to stand on her own.

"Thank you," she said quietly to the stranger, who nodded his head and smiled at them, noticing as Harry winced slightly.

"You hurt yourself," Nikki sniffed. "Harry I'm so sorry. What did you hurt?"

"Oh you know, nothing important," Harry laughed. "Just my spine."

"I'm-"

"Sorry, I know," Harry finished for her, smiling as he did so. "You don't need to be, it's my fault for distracting you."

Harry noticed that there was still a rather large group of people surrounding them, and turned to the first person who had approached them.

"Thanks," he smiled warmly. "We're fine, honest. We're both doctors, so I'll make sure we're checked over fully when we get back to work."

The crowd seemed to accept this, and slowly began to disperse, leaving Harry and Nikki alone again at the side of the road.

"You saved me," Nikki whispered. "You pulled me out of the way of the car."

"You make it sound better than it was," Harry smirked, pulling Nikki in close again and resting his chin on the top of her head. "I don't even remember moving to be honest, or how you managed to land on top of me… I must have spun around or something and tripped over the curb."

"I don't know, but you definitely saved me," Nikki muttered against his chest before looking up, her eyes locking with his. "I love you Harry Cunningham, forever and always."

Harry smiled, leaning down to kiss Nikki, wincing again as he did so.

"Harry?"

"Hmm…" Harry smirked. "I might have hit my head slightly too."

"No damage done there then," Nikki smiled weakly, and Harry laughed.

"Oh, so is my sympathy over now already," he joked, leaning down to kiss her again.

"No," she shook her head. "I really am sorry. Is it sore? We can stop at the hospital if you want, get you checked over."

"No, I'm fine. Nothing like a little excitement on your lunch break, is there?"

Taking her hand in his, he brought it to his lips, stopping when he noticed the blood on her knuckles.

"It's just a graze," Nikki said, watching Harry looking at her hand. "Considering I was nearly smushed, I think I came off pretty well, don't you? It's you that'll be covered in bruises."

Harry nodded silently, knowing that what Nikki was saying was true, yet also feeling guilty at the fact that she was still hurt, even if it was so small. He was supposed to protect her, from everything. Yes he had just pulled her out the way of a car, but there was still a mark, still evidence of what had just happened.

"Come on, we're going back to the Lyell. I'll have a look at your hand, and then we'll go for lunch properly, ok?"

"Ok," Nikki nodded. "But only if you let me check you out too."

"How could I resist such an offer?" Harry smirked, taking Nikki's uninjured hand in his and pulling her in close.

* * *

><p>"I had noticed you'd disappeared early Harry. And what are you doing in here, this is your day off?" Leo asked light-heartedly when he saw the pair enter the office, before noticing Nikki's mascara strained cheeks and adding "What's happened?"<p>

"We're fine Leo," Harry said, noticing his concern. "Nikki nearly added herself to the list of statistics for road accidents in central London, but no damage done."

"What?" Leo gasped, turning to Nikki who blushed slightly. "Honestly you two, can't you just have a _normal_ lunch break like _normal _people. How do you manage it?"

"It wasn't exactly intentional," Nikki muttered.

Leo made his way across the office, pulling Nikki into a hug before holding her at arms length, looking her over.

"Did you hurt anything?"

"No," Nikki shook her head. "Grazed my hand, that's all. Harry took the full force of hitting the ground I think."

Leo looked from Nikki to Harry and back again, as if trying to fit all the pieces together.

"He pulled you out the way?" he asked, and Nikki nodded.

"And you're ok?" Leo asked Harry directly, and Harry nodded too.

"Leo," Nikki said quietly. "That deserves the rest of the day off really, doesn't it? I mean, if he hadn't- Well, you'd be a pathologist down until you found a replacement, so he's done you a favour really."

"Oh well, when you put it that way," Leo laughed, turning towards Harry. "Of course you can have the rest of the day off, you don't even need to ask."

"Thanks Leo," Harry smiled, feeling a sting in his elbow as he moved his arm. "We'll be in the changing room if you need us before we go."

"Sure," Leo nodded, watching them disappear.

Harry scattered the contents of the medical box over the bench and leant down towards Nikki who was already sitting down.

"Thanks for getting me the day off by the way," Harry joked, sorting through the supplies. "It's been torture in here today."

"No problem," Nikki smiled weakly. "I'm not finished abusing your credit card yet anyway."

Harry grinned, knowing full well that Nikki was not the kind of person to go on an extravagant shopping trip. She usually came home with another ten bottles of nail varnish that Harry thought all looked the same, and which she told him were in fact very different, but she'd never spent a ridiculous amount when she went shopping.

"Your elbow is covered in blood," she pointed out, and Harry could see that the sleeve of his shirt had in fact turned a dark red. "Take your shirt off so I can check you over properly."

"I don't think Leo would like us getting it on in the locker room, do you?" he teased, and Nikki rolled her eyes.

"We are not 'getting it on' Harry, you're taking it off. Now Hurry up."

Harry sighed, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off, feeling the raw skin on his elbow stick to the fabric.

Nikki watched as Harry discarded his shirt in his locker before replacing it with a short sleeved T shirt that clung tighter to his skin. For years she had secretly watched him getting changed, admiring the toned muscles and smooth skin, but never did she think there would be a time where she could freely run her hands over his body, taking in every little curve. Even now she still found herself watching him get changed, her heartbeat rising ever so slightly.

After they were both satisfied that the other was is fact fine after the incident, if not a little bruised and scraped, Nikki shuffled along the bench closer to Harry, who wrapped an arm around her tight.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again. "I know- I remember what happened with the police officer. I know you watched her- and I'm so sorry that I was stupid enough-"

The tears spilled down Nikki's cheeks again, and Harry silently turned her head so she was facing him.

"What's happened has happened. No harm done. No lasting damage. What happened with Susan… that was different. And yes I felt guilty for a while, but there was nothing I could have done," Harry explained, looking deep into Nikki's dark eyes. "But I promise you Nikki, I will never let something like that happen to you. I promise I'll always be there to pull you out of the way of whatever obstacle you decide to walk in front of."

"Believe me, it won't be happening too often if I can help it," Nikki laughed slightly."Thank you."

"For what?"

"Apart from the bloody obvious?" Nikki raised her eyebrows. "Thank you for being you Harry. Thank you for choosing me, and thank you for never letting me down."

"You were always the one Nikki Alexander," Harry sighed, leaning over and kissing her gently on the lips. "I love you."

"Always?" Nikki asked with a smile, and Harry grinned widely.

"Always, and **forever**."


	7. G is for

**Thank you to heleni0, EmmaJ1996, pinkswallowsun, Thyqua, dinabar, Izzy, Lizziginne and deadfairies for reviewing the last 'chapter.' And for deadfairies for the much needed kick up the bum :D again. Sorry, two months to update really is terrible!**

**Not sure this turned out the way I wanted it to, but it desperately needed an update, and so this kinda happened :)**

**Any guesses for G?**

* * *

><p><strong><span>G is for…<span>**

"Leo's acting weird."

She announced it one day in the office, completely out of the blue, and while Harry was half-heartily trying to concentrate on a report.

It wasn't a question, or a suggestion. Just a statement. Nikki was an expert at this skill - she could turn any statement into a demand in one easy step, and Harry had learnt to translate them over the years, although when he thought about it, he knew Nikki so well that it wasn't hard for him to figure out how her mind worked. Most of the time.

"The kettle's boiled" – translated to "Harry, go and make me a cup of coffee."

"My car won't start" – "Harry, fix my car, or find someone who can."

"I'm cold" – "Harry, I need a hug but don't actually want to admit to it."

That was one of Harry's favourites, and possibly the most commonly used.

"Arnold's asking for you" – "Harry, feed the cat."

So when she announced that 'Leo's acting weird,' Harry knew to instantly translate it into 'Harry I know you won't notice these kinds of things, so I'm telling you so you can work out what's wrong with him. And then report whatever it is back to me.'

And she was right of course, Harry hadn't noticed any difference in his boss, nothing that he would class as out of the ordinary. They had all been busy lately, a series of unfortunate accidents resulting in the mortuary fridges becoming fuller than usual, yet they all seemed to be coping. There were no cases that were particularly gruesome, no murders or suicides or cases involving children. Not that it made their jobs any easier, when the family came to identify the bodies, but it was those sorts or cases that often caused their sleepless nights. The lives that were taken by someone else, rather than fate, so to speak.

Fate could be cruel and unforgiving after all, but there was nothing they could do to prevent it. Once it had decided to take someone, that was it, there was no way of stopping it. But a murder was different, when the life could have been saved if someone else hadn't decided to end it.

Harry froze, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. If Nikki said that Leo was acting weird, then he must be. She was far better at analysing these kinds of things and often knew that Harry was having a bad day before he'd realised himself. But there must have been something to trigger Leo's behaviour, something that was affecting him.

"Have you worked out what's wrong with Leo yet?" Nikki asked, bending down to lean her chin on Harry's shoulder and placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

"You asked me two hours ago," Harry chuckled. "I can't work miracles you know."

"Two hours is plenty of time," Nikki smirked, moving to sit on Harry's desk so she was sitting in front of him, and placing her feet on his chair.

"What am I supposed to do?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "Just walk up to him and ask him what's wrong."

"Well, yeah," Nikki shrugged. "Why not?"

"Yeah, that would be brilliant, wouldn't in Niks? 'Leo, Nikki says your acting strange. Are you going to tell me all of your personal problems, everything that is going on between you and Janet, everything that you might be worrying about.' Somehow, I don't think he'd tell me."

Nikki sighed, shaking her head.

"Men are useless at these things," she smirked, pushing her feet against Harry's chair and spinning him round slightly. "Of course you wouldn't ask him like that, would you?"

"Then why don't go and work out what's wrong, if it's so easy?" Harry laughed. "I personally haven't noticed any difference in him."

"That's because you haven't been looking," Nikki tilted her head to the side, and Harry almost laughed at how childlike she looked, sat on the edge of his desk and shooting him a disapproving look.

"Well it's not my fault that I'd rather watch you all day, is it Dr Alexander," Harry grinned, watching Nikki's eyes light up.

"Flattery will get you nowhere Harry, you know that," Nikki smiled. "A cup of coffee however…"

Harry laughed, grabbing Nikki by the leg and pulling towards him until she was practically sitting on his knee, her squeals of laughter echoing through the office.

"Make it yourself," Harry muttered, his lips so close to Nikki's ear that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"I don't think I want one any more," Nikki breathed, her lips already travelling towards Harry's, her arms wrapped around his neck.

This was something Harry never got tired of, being able to kiss Nikki whenever he liked, hold her hand when they were together, call her his girlfriend. But they rarely showed so much affection at work, knowing that even though they were together, they still had to act professional, had to solve the cases that they were given. They could make up for the lack of physical contact when they got home, but then there were days like today when they just didn't seem to be able to keep their hands off each other.

Just as Harry had pulled away from Nikki's soft lips Leo's door opened and he walked out, giving them a weak smile as he passed, Nikki still sitting on Harry's knee and their arms wrapped around each other.

"You're right," Harry nodded as Leo left through the glass doors without a word. "Leo's acting weird."

There was no way that he would usually pass them without some comment, whether it be about the amount of paperwork they had to complete, or the fact that they weren't at home any longer and as happy as he was for them, he'd rather not see that level of affection in the office. So for him to walk past when they were obviously not doing any work, and not comment, or raise his eyebrows, or even tell them where he was going… something was definitely wrong.

Nikki sighed again, before wriggling free and moving towards her own desk, leaning her chin on her hands and looking at Harry.

"What do you think it is?" Nikki asked, more to herself than to Harry. "He's worried about something."

"Maybe things aren't going well between him and Janet," Harry shrugged.

Nikki shook her head slowly, obviously concentrating.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "We went to their place last week remember, and they seemed fine. More than fine actually, they both looked so happy together."

"What day is it?" Harry frowned. "It's not the anniversary of the accident is it?"

"No," Nikki shook her head again. "It's not that either. Unless that's what's been bothering him. I can't remember when Cassie's birthday was, or Theresa's, or their wedding anniversary. Maybe it's something to do with that?"

"Maybe," Harry agreed. "It could be anything."

"Well, you just need to talk to him then Harry and find out what it is," Nikki said, placing her hands on the table and smiling. "By the end of the day."

"The end of the day!"

"Well, yes. If it's something serious then we need to help him, so by the end of the day, before it gets any worse," Nikki rolled her eyes, before standing up and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "I have to be at the station to go through some things with DCI Williamson, about the collision last week. That'll give you plenty of time to talk to him, man to man."

Waving her fingers at Harry, Nikki gave him a dazzling smile before disappearing out the office, leaving Harry staring after her with his mouth slightly open. Leo and Harry were close, closer than just colleagues, especially after everything they had all gone through together, yet neither of them were the kind of person that could easily open up to each other. Harry had Nikki, and Leo had Janet to tell all their problems to, but to each other… that was an obstacle in itself.

Harry was staring at his blank computer screen when the door buzzer sounded and Leo appeared again, walking straight to his office and closing the door behind him. Maybe Nikki was right, he hadn't noticed earlier because he hadn't been looking, but now that he was, Harry could see that there was something not quite right with Leo.

And he should know what it was about, so he could help him. Leo would do the same for him after all.

Locking his computer, although there was nothing on the screen, Harry nodded to himself and knocked on Leo's door, entering before he had the chance to reply like he always did. Leo was sat behind his desk, his head in his hands which were shaking slightly. At the sound of Harry entering the office, he looked up, and Harry could see the emotion reflected in Leo's eyes. He looked worried, almost desperate, and Harry immediately felt his heartbeat quicken. Nothing ever got Leo worked up so much, not enough for him to look so defeated, so… lost.

"Leo?"

"Nikki sent you to talk to me, didn't she?" Leo laughed, yet it was strained, and Harry smiled back, taking a seat in front of Leo's desk.

"Is it that obvious?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "I was going to let you know that she had gone to the station as an excuse to speak to you."

"That's a pretty lousy excuse," Leo smirked, running his hands through his silver hair.

They sat in silence watching each other, before Harry sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Harry asked. "Because we both know that Nikki won't leave either of us alone until you do."

Leo sighed, closing his eyes and nodding slowly, before taking a deep breath and looking directly at Harry.

"It's Janet."

Harry had let Leo talk, not interrupting him as he spoke, nodding in all the right places and keeping his personal opinions until the very end. When Leo had completely stopped, Harry gave him a sympathetic smile and leant his head back.

"I know why you're scared Leo," he said simply, looking back at his boss.

"Scared," Leo laughed. "Harry, I'm terrified. Completely and utterly terrified and I don't know what to do."

"Well there isn't much you can do about it," Harry said bluntly, leaning forward. "Apart from- you know-"

"Yeah," Leo nodded. "I know. But I could never, _never-_"

Harry laughed slightly.

"Leo, you don't need to go through all that with me, I know you wouldn't. You do know that Nikki and I will be here for you though, for both of you, whatever you do, no matter what?"

Leo smiled, a wide genuine smile that made Harry relax slightly.

"I do, yes Harry. Thank you."

They sat in silence again, each one staring at nothing in particular.

"What did you do, when Janet told you?" Harry asked eventually, and Leo shrugged.

"I can't remember really. I asked her if there could have been a mistake, and she assured me that it wasn't. That she'd gone to the doctor's weeks ago and just hadn't told me yet. That she was waiting until the time was right."

Harry leant back again and watched his boss, knowing that it was taking Leo a lot of effort to open up so much to Harry.

"And is the time right?" he asked, and Leo chuckled again.

"Would the time ever be right?" Leo asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not getting any younger. I just don't want to be old and wrinkly and-"

Leo stopped, as if lost for words.

"Sorry, it's a bit late for that," Harry smirked, yet Leo just looked at him.

"Exactly."

"I didn't mean that," Harry sighed, feeling guilty at his comment. "You are not old Leo, you're experienced. And Nikki says that wrinkles are only lines left behind by smiles."

Harry paused and could see the smirk playing on Leo's lips.

"That sounded pretty pathetic, didn't it?"

"Just a bit," Leo replied, stretching out his arms.

"You don't need to be scared you know," Harry said seriously. "I know you are, and I understand why, but you don't need to be."

"I know I shouldn't," Leo nodded slightly. "It's just- after losing Cassie and Theresa, I never thought I'd be happy again. And then I found Janet, and everything seemed to get that little bit easier. Not that I wasn't happy with you and Nikki-" Leo added quickly, and Harry chuckled.

"Leo, I know, you don't have to explain that to me."

"I just don't know how to feel," Leo sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I don't want to mess anything up."

"You won't," Harry said sternly. "Leo, you won't. You'll be brilliant, and you'll never forget about Cassie. This is your chance to be truly happy with Janet, for you to start something new and exciting, but you'll never forget them, never forget how happy you were with Cassie and Theresa."

"You're right," Leo nodded. "I have to stop feeling sorry for myself. This is something so many people would want, and I can't see it as anything but a good thing."

They paused, both silent, before Leo spoke.

"Thanks Harry."

"No problem," Harry said, standing up and making his way to the office door. "You should probably tell Nikki soon though, she's worried about you. And believe me, it'll make your life so much easier if you tell her, not to mention mine."

"I will," Leo chuckled. "Bring her in here when she gets back."

Harry nodded and left the office, a small smile on his lips as he turned his computer back on.

Within half an hour the door buzzer sounded again and Nikki appeared back in the office, dropping her bag at Harry's desk and turning to him.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Harry asked, seeing the annoyance flash across her features.

"Leo!" she rolled her eyes. "Have you spoken to him?"

"Yes."

"And?"

Just the tone of her voice told Harry that he was treading on dangerous grounds now.

"He told me that he had something important to tell us when you got back," Harry said, watching her closely.

Nikki opened her mouth, before closing it again as if lost for words.

"What if it's serious Harry," she said quietly. "What if he's leaving, or he's ill, or if something has happened with Janet? What if-"

"What if we just go speak to him," Harry interrupted, taking her by the hand and pulling her towards Leo's office door. "Then no matter what it is, you can stop worrying."

"Ok," Nikki whispered, gripping Harry's hand as they knocked and entered, both stopping in front of Leo's desk.

"Ah good, you're back," Leo smiled when he looked up, getting to his feet and moving to the other side of his desk. "I've been wanting to see you both. I have some news."

"Please say you're not retiring," Nikki said and Leo rolled his eyes.

"Seriously Nikki, how many times are you going to ask me that? I keep telling you, I'm not that old! Actually, after my conversation with Harry I now feel so much better about my 'smile lines'," Leo chuckled, emphasising the last few words and Harry could feel the sides of his mouth twitch.

Nikki opened her mouth to reply, but Harry shot her a look that told her to keep quiet. Leo shuffled slightly on the spot, before taking a deep breath and looking straight at them both.

"Harry, Nikki," he spoke slowly, a wide smile gracing his lips. "You're going to be **godparents**."


End file.
